DJANGO - 2017

The Berlin International Film Festival 2017 opened with the world premiere of Etienne Comar’s directorial debut Django, a biopic of jazz legend Django Reinhardt, starring Reda Kateb.

After a successful producing career on the European arthouse circuit with credits including the Oscar-nominated Timbuktu and Bafta-nominated Of Gods And Men, Etienne Comar makes his directorial debut with Django, depicting two years in the life of jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt. The film is set during German-occupied Paris in 1943. As a Sinti, Reinhardt and his family were harassed and hounded by the Nazis. “Django Reinhardt was one of the most brilliant pioneers of European jazz and the father of Gypsy Swing," said Berlin festival director Dieter Kosslick. "Django grippingly portrays one chapter in the musician’s eventful life and is a poignant tale of survival. Constant danger, flight and the atrocities committed against his family could not make him stop playing."

“I’ve wanted to make a portrait of a musician for a long time; it’s a tormented, dramatic existence. Django inspired many of the great guitarists — Jimi Hendrix named an album in homage to him [Band Of Gypsys]. The name Django is very famous; the Sergio Corbucci film Django [and by extension Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained] are references” Etienne Comar